THE NEW ZEALANDERS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 164, 1 April 1918, Page 5

THE NEW ZEALANDERS

DIVISION IN GREAT FETTLE

A TRIBUTE TO THEIR WORK (R«c. March 31, 5.6 p.m.) London, March 30. Mr: W. Murdoch, writing on March 23, says: "The New Zealanders had a considerably harder winter than the Australians, but stuck it well. They held a difficult southern sector on tno Passchendaele battlefield, in morasses and nradfields scarcely habitable even by soldiers. All supplies of food, wire, and munitions had to bo laboriously hand-carried for miles in relays, whilstthe wounded sometimes took ten hours to evacuate. The German artillery firing was always heavy, in order to embarrass the work of the pioneers and the labour companies, but gradually a network of roads, tracks, and railways spread over these shattered districts. I saw many units resting. They are the same sturdy, solid, clearcomplexioned men, mostly engrossed in inter-divisional Rugby competitions. The division is now in great fettle, and really anxious to moot the Bodies above ground. It ia known everywhere as one of the hardest-working, hardestfighting divisions in France, and when it gets hold of trendies for a prolonged period it goes raiding and snipinc. and otherwise angers the Bodies. The Headquarters Staff send fond greetings homeward on behsut ot tue men. The New Zealauders deserve their countrymen's calm confidence and unquestioning backing—United Service.